Dave Pressler's "Mythic Mountain" will be included in "mostly Black & White," an exhiit that runs through March 2 at Art/Place in Fairfield.

Dave Pressler's "Mythic Mountain" will be included in "mostly Black & White," an exhiit that runs through March 2 at Art/Place in Fairfield.

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Jens Risom, who has designed some of the most iconic furniture of the 20th century, will be honored with a show at the Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan. Above is one of his chairs.

Jens Risom, who has designed some of the most iconic furniture of the 20th century, will be honored with a show at the Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan. Above is one of his chairs.

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Pieces from the nine new members of the Silvermine Guild of Artists will be on view through Feb. 16 in New Canaan.

Pieces from the nine new members of the Silvermine Guild of Artists will be on view through Feb. 16 in New Canaan.

Photo: Contributed Photo

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This Picasso print will be featured in the Gabor Peterdi International Print Collection show at the Silvermine Arts Center through Feb. 16.

This Picasso print will be featured in the Gabor Peterdi International Print Collection show at the Silvermine Arts Center through Feb. 16.

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Receptions kick off art exhibits in Fairfield, New Canaan

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The New Year usually brings many new art exhibits throughout the region -- and 2014 is no exception.

This Sunday, Jan. 12, will see free opening receptions for "mostly Black & White" in Fairfield, as well as three exhibitions at the Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan.

Members of Art/Place, a nonprofit artist cooperative, have chosen to open the 2014 season with a show that for the most part limits the palette to black and white. It opens on Thursday, Jan. 9, and runs through March 2. Sunday's public reception is scheduled to run from 3 to 5 p.m.

The exhibition features the work of 18 artists in graphite, pen and ink, charcoal, etching, stenciling, oil and acrylic painting, photography and collage.

Pollack said, "Like Wool, I am exploring density of pattern against the white of the surface. The limitations are surprisingly freeing." She explained that being less concerned with painterly strokes, she was able to focus upon the impact of repeated imagery.

Artist Florence Zolan, co-chair of Art/Place with Pollack, combines printmaking with pastel and collage to create works of depth and resonance. She said that various materials with a shiny, dull or textured surface give very different expressions of black and white. "It's exciting to watch the works emerging from the so-called limitations, which actually become most expansive."

For Greenwich artist Paul Larson, "the black and white monochromatic images have always been my preferred mode of expression. Whether executed in graphite, ink, paint or film, the juxtaposition of monochromatic tone provides enormous intrigue for the eye to enjoy."

Dave Pressler's images are digital prints of mixed media, part of his micro-painting series. The images are originally painted on 35 mm clear film, using graphite and India ink, while working on a light-box using a powerful magnifier, tiny brushes and Q-tips to apply the mediums, he explained. His images are then digitized at high resolution and printed professionally.

Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan will open three shows on Sunday: the New Guild Members show; the work of Lifetime Guild Artist member Jens Risom; and the Gabor Peterdi International Print Collection. The free public reception is set to run from 2 to 4 p.m. They will be on view through Feb. 16.

Jens Risom (born in 1916) -- an icon of Danish-American furniture design and a Silvermine Guild Member since the 1950s -- will be honored in "The Answer is Risom," featuring several of his signature furniture designs along with original drawings and other historical items from a career that has spanned more than 70 years.

Although he learned the trade in Denmark (he trained at the Copenhagen School of Industrial Arts and Design), he is often counted among the Americans who shaped post-World War II design since his most important contributions to the modern style were made after he immigrated here in 1939, the arts center says.

Through the decades, "Risom's work has continued to reflect our human need for warmth, beauty, and simplicity," the center said.

A longtime resident of New Canaan, Risom is a trustee of the Rhode Island School of Design and was knighted by Queen Margrethe of Denmark in 1996. Risom summed up his stylistic philosophy and his approach to interiors as: "Good design means that anything which is good by itself will go with other things."

Twice a year, each spring and fall, artists are selected through a jurying process to become new members of the Silvermine Guild of Artists. The Guild, with more than 300 members, announced that the New Members Exhibition will showcase the works of nine new members inducted in the spring and fall of 2013.

The Gabor Peterdi International Print Collection is named in honor of Silvermine's print collection founder, Gabor Peterdi, who started the printmaking department at Yale University and the National Print Biennial competition at Silvermine in 1956. The collection recently received several significant donations, including works by Josef Albers. Also on view will be works by Fritz Brosius, Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso and a print attributed to Salvador Dali.